The Washington critic., 1887-07-05
TOPICS OF THE DAY.


One of the President Buffalo friends
returned from the White House the
other evening, says Towle of the
Boston Trdreller. He said that he had
been having "a good time with
Grover" and he looked It. He leaned
up against one of the pillars In the ro-
tunda at Willard's and remarked
casually to the envious crowd: Eyes,
he Is the same old Grover, and no mis-.
take. Last year when 1 was here l
kinder made up my mind that
Grover was getting stuck up, but
talk over old times, but you can't run
IN any politics on him. He draws the
line at politics, but otherwise he is just
as friendly as ever. His wife was away
when saw him, but he isn't troubled
much for lack of company, l can tell
you. / wonder II Grover has changed
sec any cheese over TO the White
ror for cheese. When he was In Buf.
falo he would 60 into beer saloon,
call for glass and then begin on the
cheese and crackers. Great Scott
what an appetite he did have in those
days. If his wife has induced him TO
stop eating cheese and crackers he Is
In love with her sure enough"
."s
"'Boss' Shepherd owes much of his
popularity as well as his success to his
wife," says mcfarland In the Phila-
delphia Record. "She came of a fine
old family here, and was Its very
flower, as remarkable a woman as
Shepherd was q man. She was his
guide and his counsellor, his strength
and his stay. Womanly to perfection,
she is as strong In her will and as wide
In her judgment as any man. She
has been his helpmate in the noblest
!, sense OF the term In all his troubles
and trials as In all his successes. She
went to Mexico with him when he had
exhausted his opportunities here, TAX
ing her children with her and making
an attractive home for him and
them in the very heart of those
silver mountains. Without that love
he must have failed in the first year.
With 1t he came as near success as any
one could. From time to time Mrs.
Shepherd came. back here for her chill
dren's sake, always returning, how
ever, to Mexico, as she has just done,
for the purpose of bringing Shepherd
back to "Bleakhouse,' his old country
place, just north Of the city, which he
has always held on to. There she will
bring him back to health and set him
on his feet again. A wonderful
woman"
Says t,MacBride In the Cincinnati
Enquirer: The name of Thurman
carries one back to the times when the
National Congress had In 1t giants In.
stead Of pigmies. For some years the
people of this country have lived
under the age of exceedingly small
men. For the past ten years there has
been painful retrogresslon In the class
of men who make the laws. Take
Ohio twenty years ago and associate
its public men with those who now
represent 1t. Who to-day matches
Ewing or Giddings, Ben Wade or
John A. Bingham? Who fills the
place of Garfield This suggestion is
applicable to all the States of the
Union. In the old days men were sent
TO Congress for their signal ability.
Now they secure preferment seemingly
for the want of 1t. The one trouble is
that there are too many lawyers in
Congress. What seems to be
needed is business sense. Tho South,
for instance, sends contingent whose
sole responsibility seems to be to split
hairs upon questions of constitutional
law. The interior States send also
lawyers. The business centres send al.
legged lawyers. The worst representa-
tion In Congress to-day comes from the
ample. If the agricultural districts
will send lawyers the great cities should
be represented by business men.
Nv
'In October, 1850, Willis Hughe!
and myself went to Boston" said ole
John knight Of Macon, Ga, the othel
day to reporter of the Atlanta C0nsti.
tution: "Our mission was to secure
two fugitive slaves who had fled tc
Massachusetts to enjoy their freedom
Abolitionism was getting hotter and
hotter, and the matter was being agi
tated by press and pulpit, and 1t hat
been taught to the rabble on whose
minds the word slavery as existing
In the South, had been much magni
fed. Well, we went to Boston, aud
when we arrived there we were not
long In making our business known t.
the proper persons In authority. W.
putu at good hotel, and were pre-
pared to back up our claims with lega
ntnI tttpf ant, h1tt ttr
were not prepared for what soon fol
lowed Our mission was soon noiseC
abroad, and the quick ears of the mul
titude were not slow to catch the gen
eral sentiment, and they held an indig
nation pow.wow. Hughes and l wer
denounced, slavery was denounced, AM
the fugitive slave law was decried, AM
old Boston was startled by the enthu
siastic rousing of the abolition
mob. 1t got too big for oil,
Cato Parker and his colleagues, AM
we were quietly Informed that tn
Boston mob was going to hang us
You may be sure we were not long II
making up our minds. Quietly W
slipped of from the city, and assur
you, upon my word of honor, that
ran forty miles" GAN the way yoI
RAM" "Well, ran most of the way
i ran and walked together to King
Point, where took shipping for home
and ! tell you | was glad to be able t
bid farewell to the inhospitable shore
of Massachusetts, Bay. Soon afte
came the great agitation of the ropea
of the law and in ten years more cam
the war of secession. / shall neve
forget that wild race as long as live
] never knew how rapidly l could sc
away from place until then, when